11-Foot Alligator Bites Off Teen's Arm in Florida

MOORE HAVEN, Fla. (The Blaze/AP) -- In a shocking and violent alligator attack, a Florida teenager has lost his right arm below the elbow.

Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission spokesman Jorge Pino told Fort Myers television station WBBH that the teen's arm was still inside the 11-foot alligator when it was hunted down and killed Monday evening.

The television station reports 17-year-old Kaleb Langdale was rushed to a Fort Myers hospital but the arm couldn't be reattached. Langdale was swimming in the Caloosahatchee (kal-oos-ah-HAT'-chee) River near Moore Haven when the attack occurred.

NBC-2.com WBBH News for Fort Myers, Cape Coral

Matt Baker, a friend of the victim, says the gator swam straight at Langdale. It bit the teen's arm and pulled him under water. Another friend, Gary Beck says Langdale popped out of the water, screaming "my arm is gone." WBBH provides moe of the reaction from friends who were with Langdale at the time of the incident:

Friends who were with Langdale at the time of the attack said they were in no way taunting the gator. They say it seemed to have come out of nowhere.

"It ended up being about a 10-and-a-half-foot gator who came straight at him. It came at him and he put his arm in the way instead of letting it get to his body. It took his arm and him under," said...Baker.

Another friend, Gary Beck, said Langdale popped out of the water shortly after the attack. [...]

"It was scary. I couldn't believe it was real at the moment," Baker added.

Officials say it's alligator mating season and attacks are not uncommon.